FRAME CLAIMS: Graham Cleghorn is serving 20 years in a Cambodian prison for the rape of five teenage girls.
New Zealand Herald
Friday Oct 15, 2010
--A New Zealander jailed in 2004 for raping five teenage Cambodian girls between the ages of 14 and 19 is now facing new charges of defamation and disinformation filed by a charity group which looks after vulnerable women and children.
Graham Cleghorn, 62, is serving a 20-year sentence for raping the girls, but has claimed that he was set up, and that the charity, the Cambodian Women's Crisis Centre (CWCC), paid the five girls US$10,000 ($13,198.94) each to testify against him.
The girls were employed at his Siem Reap home, near the Angkor Wat temple in northern Cambodia.
Cleghorn represented himself at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday and pleaded not guilty to the new charges, the Phnom Penh Post reported.
He claimed to have evidence - a letter from a girl stating that a CWCC official had asked her to testify against him in exchange for $10,000 - but said the letter and other documents he would like to present were being stored at the Supreme Court in Phnom Penh.
He requested time to get the documents and contact the New Zealand embassy to help him find a lawyer.
Judge Din Sivuthy agreed and set his next appearance for November 15.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman said Cleghorn was last visited by New Zealand Embassy staff from Bangkok on October 4.
Cleghorn, 62, is being held in Prey Sar prison, just out of Phnom Penh, since his conviction, which was upheld in 2007 by the Cambodian Court of Appeal.
Last month, another New Zealand man, Michael John Lines, 53, who also has Australian citizenship, stood trial in Cambodia for sexually abusing young girls.
Judge Duch Kimsan of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court said he would give a verdict in the near future, but did not specify when.
Cambodia has long been a magnet for foreign paedophiles because of poverty and poor law enforcement, but in recent years police and courts have increasingly targeted sex offenders.
- NZPA-
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Cleghorn: Interviews accurate
By JIMMY ELLINGHAM and CHRANN CHAMROEUN - Manawatu Standard
A New Zealand man serving 20 years in a Cambodian prison for raping five teenagers has again appeared before the country's courts on defamation charges.
Former Wellingtonian Graham Cleghorn claims he is innocent and was set up by the Cambodian Women's Crisis Center, who profited from increased publicity surrounding the case.
In media interviews Cleghorn has said the centre bribed the teenagers to testify against him. These claims had landed him back in court.
At a preliminary hearing on Wednesday at Phnom Penh's Municipal Court, Cleghorn represented himself and pleaded not guilty to defamation and disinformation charges.
"What I said in media interviews was accurate," he told the court.
He asked for more time to try to find a lawyer and obtain documents he said supported his case. Judge Din Sivuthy agreed and rescheduled the defamation hearing for next month.
Cleghorn, 62, has been in Prey Sar prison, just out of Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, since 2004.
A 2007 Cambodian Court of Appeal decision upheld Cleghorn's convictions for raping five teenagers aged 14 to 19 who were in his employment in the northern Cambodian city of Siem Reap, near the Angkor Wat temple.
Cleghorn arrived in the Kingdom in the early 1990s and ran The Minefield bar in Siem Reap.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman Chris Wilson told the Manawatu Standard Cleghorn was last visited by New Zealand Embassy staff from Bangkok on October 4.
"We are continuing to give him regular consular assistance," he said.The Cambodian Women's Crisis Center would not comment on the case.
Graham Cleghorn, 62, is serving a 20-year sentence for raping the girls, but has claimed that he was set up, and that the charity, the Cambodian Women's Crisis Centre (CWCC), paid the five girls US$10,000 ($13,198.94) each to testify against him.
The girls were employed at his Siem Reap home, near the Angkor Wat temple in northern Cambodia.
Cleghorn represented himself at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday and pleaded not guilty to the new charges, the Phnom Penh Post reported.
He claimed to have evidence - a letter from a girl stating that a CWCC official had asked her to testify against him in exchange for $10,000 - but said the letter and other documents he would like to present were being stored at the Supreme Court in Phnom Penh.
He requested time to get the documents and contact the New Zealand embassy to help him find a lawyer.
Judge Din Sivuthy agreed and set his next appearance for November 15.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman said Cleghorn was last visited by New Zealand Embassy staff from Bangkok on October 4.
Cleghorn, 62, is being held in Prey Sar prison, just out of Phnom Penh, since his conviction, which was upheld in 2007 by the Cambodian Court of Appeal.
Last month, another New Zealand man, Michael John Lines, 53, who also has Australian citizenship, stood trial in Cambodia for sexually abusing young girls.
Judge Duch Kimsan of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court said he would give a verdict in the near future, but did not specify when.
Cambodia has long been a magnet for foreign paedophiles because of poverty and poor law enforcement, but in recent years police and courts have increasingly targeted sex offenders.
- NZPA-
-----------------------------------------
Cleghorn: Interviews accurate
By JIMMY ELLINGHAM and CHRANN CHAMROEUN - Manawatu Standard
A New Zealand man serving 20 years in a Cambodian prison for raping five teenagers has again appeared before the country's courts on defamation charges.
Former Wellingtonian Graham Cleghorn claims he is innocent and was set up by the Cambodian Women's Crisis Center, who profited from increased publicity surrounding the case.
In media interviews Cleghorn has said the centre bribed the teenagers to testify against him. These claims had landed him back in court.
At a preliminary hearing on Wednesday at Phnom Penh's Municipal Court, Cleghorn represented himself and pleaded not guilty to defamation and disinformation charges.
"What I said in media interviews was accurate," he told the court.
He asked for more time to try to find a lawyer and obtain documents he said supported his case. Judge Din Sivuthy agreed and rescheduled the defamation hearing for next month.
Cleghorn, 62, has been in Prey Sar prison, just out of Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, since 2004.
A 2007 Cambodian Court of Appeal decision upheld Cleghorn's convictions for raping five teenagers aged 14 to 19 who were in his employment in the northern Cambodian city of Siem Reap, near the Angkor Wat temple.
Cleghorn arrived in the Kingdom in the early 1990s and ran The Minefield bar in Siem Reap.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman Chris Wilson told the Manawatu Standard Cleghorn was last visited by New Zealand Embassy staff from Bangkok on October 4.
"We are continuing to give him regular consular assistance," he said.The Cambodian Women's Crisis Center would not comment on the case.
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